CDS (II) 2024 General Knowledge · Question 86 of 120

Correct — D, Kaveri. The Kabini, also written Kapila, is one of the main tributaries of the Kaveri. It is formed in Wayanad district of Kerala where the Panamaram and Mananthavadi rivers meet, flows east into Karnataka, and joins the Kaveri in Mysore district near Tirumakudalu Narasipura. Two things keep the name in circulation. One is the Kabini dam near H. D. Kote, built in the 1970s, whose backwaters flank Nagarhole National Park and draw large gatherings of elephants in the dry months. The other is the river's part in the Kaveri water dispute, since it is one of the tributaries whose storage is counted in the sharing formula. Note that this is a west-to-east crossing of the Western Ghats' rain shadow line — the Kabini rises on the wet Kerala side and delivers that water to the drier Deccan interior.

• (a)Godavari — Its major tributaries are the Pravara, Manjra, Purna, Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga, Indravati and Sabari — none of them the Kabini.
• (b)Krishna — The Krishna is fed by the Bhima, Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Koyna and Musi. The Kabini's confluence is well to the south of the Krishna basin.
• (c)Mahanadi — A river of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, joined by the Seonath, Hasdeo, Mand, Ib and Tel. It drains into the Bay of Bengal far from the Kabini's country.

The Kaveri rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of Kodagu in Karnataka and reaches the Bay of Bengal through a delta in Tamil Nadu. Its principal tributaries are the Hemavati, Shimsha, Arkavati, Kabini, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravati, the last three joining in Tamil Nadu. Along its course it splits and rejoins to enclose the river islands of Srirangapatna, Shivanasamudra and Srirangam, and it falls over the Shivanasamudra cascade, where India's first hydroelectric station was built. Because the basin is shared between Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, its tributaries are named constantly in the water-sharing dispute.

Tributary questions are best answered by locating the tributary rather than by recalling a list. The Kabini rises in Wayanad, and Wayanad sits on the Kerala side of the Ghats opposite Kodagu and Mysore, so any river running east from there must belong to the Kaveri, which is the only large east-flowing river of that latitude. The Godavari and Krishna drain the Deccan much further north; the Mahanadi is a different watershed altogether. The Kabini reservoir is worth remembering separately for its association with elephants at Nagarhole, which is how the name usually appears in current-affairs questions.

• The Kabini, also called the Kapila, is formed in Wayanad district of Kerala by the confluence of the Panamaram and Mananthavadi rivers.
• It joins the Kaveri in Mysore district, Karnataka.
• The Kaveri rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of Kodagu district, Karnataka.
• Other Kaveri tributaries include the Hemavati, Shimsha, Arkavati, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravati.
• The Kabini reservoir near H. D. Kote adjoins Nagarhole National Park, where elephants gather along the backwaters in the dry season.

• Assuming a river that rises in Kerala must flow west into the Arabian Sea.
• Confusing the Kabini with the Kapili, a tributary of the Brahmaputra in Assam.
• Mixing the Bhavani, which joins the Kaveri in Tamil Nadu, with tributaries of the Krishna.

As a tributary-to-main-river pairing, or as a question naming a dam or sanctuary and asking which river system it belongs to.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Kaveri rises at Talakaveri in which range?

  • (a)Brahmagiri hills
  • (b)Nallamala hills
  • (c)Satpura range
  • (d)Anaimalai hills

  Answer(a) Brahmagiri hills — in Kodagu district, Karnataka, on the crest of the Western Ghats.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is NOT a tributary of the Kaveri?

  • (a)Hemavati
  • (b)Bhavani
  • (c)Amaravati
  • (d)Manjra

  Answer(d) Manjra — a tributary of the Godavari; the other three all join the Kaveri.